City slammed for 'serious flaws' in child protection network

Child protection services in the city where toddler Brandon Muir was killed were criticised in a report today.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education examined the Dundee City Council area.

Inspectors warned of "major weaknesses" in identifying children who needed protection and that "some children were left in high-risk situations without adequate protection or support".

Brandon Muir, who was aged 23 months, died from a ruptured intestine following an assault by Robert Cunningham, 23, in the Dundee flat he shared with the toddler's mother Heather Boyd.

Earlier this year a jury at the High Court in Glasgow convicted Cunningham of culpable homicide.

During the trial it emerged the social work department had been in contact with Boyd before her son's death.

But today's HMIE report did not look at the Brandon Muir case.

It pointed out that Dundee Children and Young Persons Protection Committee had commissioned a significant case review into the circumstances surrounding Brandon's death.

And the chief officers group of Dundee City Council, Tayside Police and NHS Tayside has commissioned an independent review of matters relating to the youngster's death.

HMIE inspectors could not "assure the quality of service received by every single child in the area who might need help".

Most staff recognised when children were at risk of abuse or neglect but "not all of these children were reported quickly to social workers or police".

The report continued: "Immediate action was sometimes delayed and some children were left in high-risk situations without adequate protection or support.

"The needs of vulnerable children and those recovering from abuse were not always met well.

"Staff across services did not always respond quickly enough to children who were at risk of significant harm.

"They did not always report their concerns until the child's circumstances had reached crisis point.

"Some children were left for too long in circumstances which placed them at risk of significant harm."

The quality of risk assessments by the council was "very variable" – some assessments were detailed and clearly identified any risks to children but "many others lacked relevant detail and sufficient analysis of risk".

The area chief officers have now been asked to detail how they will address the criticisms and issues raised in the report.

They have been asked to report to HMIE what progress they have made within four months, and inspectors will revisit the area within a year.

Alan Baird, chair of Dundee Children and Young Persons Protection Committee, said all agencies involved accepted "joint responsibility for the issues identified in this report".
The committee, which includes representatives from the council, police, NHS and others, admitted that "improvements are required in the area's child protection procedures and practices".
Mr Baird added: "There have been gaps in our services and that is why all the agencies are giving a total commitment to making substantial improvements for children and families in the city."
An action plan is being drawn up, he said, and organisations on the child protection committee had increased resources, including increasing the number of frontline child protection staff.
And a child protection unit will be set up in Dundee's Kings Cross Hospital, "where specialists in child protection from all of the agencies will work together to share information on each and every case", Mr Baird said.
The chief officers group want progress made "as quickly as possible", he went on.
"There is little doubt that the proliferation of drugs in our communities has led to major challenges for agencies involved in child welfare and protection," he said.
Dundee City Council leader Ken Guild said the council had committed an extra £1.3 million in the current financial year "to strengthen child protection services".
And he said they are focusing resources so that when inspectors return in a year they "will find that we have delivered significant improvements".
Jim Barrie, convener of the council's social work and health committee, said: "The public need to have confidence in the child protection processes in our communities and the findings of this report help to identify the areas of social work service that need to be improved.
"I am confident that staff at all levels in the social work department will take the findings of this report and use them to make the necessary changes in the way we look after vulnerable children in the city."

Today's report comes after HMIE criticised child protection services in both Aberdeen and Moray.
Labour leader Iain Gray said that, in the wake of this "third damning report", a national child protection inquiry should be held.
"There is a crisis at the heart of child protection services in parts of Scotland," he said.
"We were told after the death of Brandon Muir that changes would be made. I have no confidence that that is happening.
"This is not a localised issue but a national one. Doing nothing cannot be an option.
"It is for ministers to take action and do it quickly. Alex Salmond and Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop must lead this process.
"It needs firm and immediate action at full cabinet level."
The Tories called for an "independent appraisal of social work services in Scotland".
The party's children's spokeswoman Liz Smith said people will be "appalled" by the Dundee report.
"We ask our social workers to pick up the pieces but we are failing to give them the support they need," she said.
"It is time for an independent appraisal of social work services in Scotland to assess whether the system is fit for purpose and whether those in the frontline are being given the help they need as they face up to the enormous challenge of our fractured society.
"We also face a longer-term task, which is to admit that we all have a role to play and that tragedies such as Brandon Muir are the responsibility of us all. We have failed and we are failing too many children in Scotland.
"We need to put aside our political differences and unite to make sure that we tackle head-on our broken society – the parenting void in too many homes, parents with chaotic lifestyles, drug and alcohol addiction, poverty and despair."